Posted
by
timothy
on Wednesday November 19, 2008 @03:31PM
from the finally-a-perfect-use-for-the-foot-icon dept.

JTRipper writes "Monty Python seems to have done the right thing. Instead of issuing take down notices of their videos on YouTube, they are doing it better themselves with their own YouTube channel. They are putting all their clips (including snips from their movies) up in a decent resolution, with the only caveat being a link to buying the movies and TV episodes from Amazon."

Their announcement video shows more video clips than they have up right now (man with a recorder up his nose from And Now for Something Completely Different, etc) so hopefully there's more to come. I'm a bit disappointed the general populace doesn't watch The Flying Circus more often... it's a shame every time I see a banana at a corporate function I have the urge to hand it to someone while instructing them to "come at me with that banana like you really mean it!" And they just continue to treat me like I'm insane.

And where's The Crimson Permanent Assurance [youtube.com] (opening feature to The Meaning of Life)?! That single skit was probably more expensive than all other Python works combined--and a gold mine for office humor to send to your coworkers!

And that line is put because of the silly anoyingly presumably argumentable and debatable feature-wannabee that is the time limit on slashdot comments. IF THE TIME LIMIT RAISES COMMENTS INTERESTS, THEN CAPSLOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL. I'm cool. Another random sentence because 5 minutes is like very long.

I'm a bit disappointed the general populace doesn't watch The Flying Circus more often...

no offense, but the general populace (at least in the states) doesn't like or 'get' python. you either love it or hate it - which isnt an even split. more people probably like the stooges. i cannot fathom why people like that show. (see how that works?)

it's a shame every time I see a banana at a corporate function I have the urge to hand it to someone while instructing them to "come at me with that banana like you really mean it!"

that is a bit of a shame... i like python as well, but hearing people do bits all the time is a bit annoying. particularly when it gets into a 'who can make the most obscure python reference' infinite loop.

Now really, was it necessary to quote that entire post when you added your nine words? Did it significantly enhance the quality of your own post? I contend that it did not, and that you and the community as a whole would benefit from you never doing that again.

Their announcement video shows more video clips than they have up right now (man with a recorder up his nose from And Now for Something Completely Different, etc) so hopefully there's more to come. I'm a bit disappointed the general populace doesn't watch The Flying Circus more often... it's a shame every time I see a banana at a corporate function I have the urge to hand it to someone while instructing them to "come at me with that banana like you really mean it!" And they just continue to treat me like I'm insane.

And where's The Crimson Permanent Assurance [youtube.com] (opening feature to The Meaning of Life)?! That single skit was probably more expensive than all other Python works combined--and a gold mine for office humor to send to your coworkers!

At least it's a step in the right direction!

Now really, was it necessary to quote that entire post when you added your nine words? Did it significantly enhance the quality of your own post? I contend that it did not, and that you and the community as a whole would benefit from you never doing that again.

If we want to talk about steps in the right direction, how about Hulu.com [hulu.com]? You sit through something like 60 seconds of commercials per episode of whatever you want to watch, but otherwise everything is perfectly free. The service is designed very well and is well implemented. As far as "new business models" go, I think the people in charge of this site really know what they're doing.

I'm happy enough with the service that I gladly advertise it for them. I regularly watch Colbert Report episodes one or two days after they air there.

to wit: "with the only caveat being a link to buying the movies and TV episodes from Amazon."caveat? -caveat-? Holy crap. The people behind the actual stuff can't put a f'ing "BUY THIS NOW" link with their videos without being chastised for it now?

The "me me me" generation needs to move along and die - the sooner the better.

I've always said (search my comments - I'm sure I've ranted on this topic here before) that the content owners should have a two-part strategy..1. yes, by all means, send DMCA takedown notices of clear rips (if for no other reason than that I am tired of the leading title sequences for clips saying "video made by GangFunksta!!!!" in bright yellow on blue put together in windows movie maker, followed by the actual video overlaid by "made with unregistered hypercam" in the corners all over, and the sound too quiet to hear without setting the volume to 11)( Note that I say 'clear rips'; somebody playing some stupid song in the background of their kid dancing shouldn't get a DMCA takedown. Somebody putting up a still image with the artist name and title of the song with the music in good quality -should- be DMCAd left right and center. )

2. Make an official and -good- quality version available themselves. Doesn't even need to be high quality or HD - leave that for sales if you want, but just set up good quality versions, add links to other productions of yours, add links to amazon, to swag, insert special promo codes - whatever you think would bring you more customers instead of driving them away (and to those crappy rips).. heck, put in an actual ad at the end of the video.

I wonder who had the power to make this decision since most artists sell their work to a label/studio. According to Wikipedia for example, The Holy Grain is currently produced by Fox and EMI in the UK and Cinema 5 in the US (who I've never heard of). But the others seem to have other distributors. It's strange that they would upload portions from the entire collection when it seems that different parts are owned by different companies....

But it's welcome news. Maybe it will set a precedent for others to do the same.

Sir Lancelot: We were in the nick of time. You were in great peril. Sir Galahad: I don't think I was. Sir Lancelot: Yes, you were. You were in terrible peril. Sir Galahad: Look, let me go back in there and face the peril. Sir Lancelot: No, it's too perilous. Sir Galahad: Look, it's my duty as a knight to sample as much peril as I can. Sir Lancelot: No, we've got to find the Holy Grail. Come on. Sir Galahad: Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril? Sir Lancelot: No. It's unhealthy. Sir Galahad: I bet you're gay. Sir Lancelot: Am not.

Can anyone explain the summary title to me? I don't understand what any of this has to do with the "long tail" as I've heard it explained. I mean, it might apply to youtube... if youtube were selling it's videos.

The "Long Tail" is a retail concept. Normally, business make 80% of their profit/sales off 20% of the items that they sell. Which is why "Big" retails are well stocked with the latest Hollywood film, but not that obscure DVD with British humor. The Internet is supposed to change this. Because adding an additional piece to inventor does not take up an additional retail "space" a store can offer unlimited holdings. So one would expect that fewer sales of the "Big" hits and more sales of the more odd titles.
It's is a nice theory, but it not true. 80% of Amazon's sales come from just 20% of their inventory. I mean, sure, they have a much larger inventory then most stores, but they don't expect the long tail. The numbers are bigger but the ratio stays the same.
I have always wondered if Apple's Itunes has escaped into the long tail.

I was a huge fan of the way id released their games back in the day, first episode is long and free, the next two will cost you something. Now with Monty Python, the last show went in the can years ago and they're not likely to produce anything new. But for newer shows, I think the PBS model would work. Give the content away for free but let the fans who really like it become direct patrons to support the arts. Let's face it, stamping out piracy is pretty much impossible and not every pirated copy is really a lost sale to begin with. Better to support the culture of patronage and count on the real fans to help you turn a profit.

One thing the networks are struggling to contend with right now is gaining an accurate measure of just how popular a show is. We know about Faux's surprise when Family Guy was canceled for poor ratings and the DVD set went on to become the #2 selling show ever. This sort of performance gap is continuing with geriatric-targeting CBS having great Nielsens while shows skewing towards younger demographics seem to be under-performing but this does not reflect the interest on p2p sites. ITunes only depicts a portion of the overall success online. And DVD sales aren't figured until long after the current season is over.

I'll be happy when the middle-men are completely done away with and first-run shows are produced with no need for networks. We're already seeing quirky comedies doing well on Youtube but those are extremely low-budget. It'll take some bucks to put together something like Firefly on a fan-funded basis.

The PBS model doesn't really even work for PBS. When I worked at WGBH in Boston, I got to see the budget numbers - about 90% of the budget comes from the corporate sponsors. Those commitments are arranged and planned for years in advance.

The remainder of the budget comes from "viewers like you," and since it's impossible to predict those donation amounts in advance, it goes only into a discretionary spending fund. Every project plan has a few "would be nice" items in case there's enough in that discretionary fund to build them by the time the project is being produced.

Actually I believe that Python was produced at a time when the BBC was opposed to using any canned laugh track. The exterior shots laugh track were presumably recorded while playing back the tape to the audience as a prelude to the interior, live filming.

You must understand that these shows were produced almost four decades ago, when producing a comedy without at least a live audience was not only unheard of, but unthinkable.

That said, I always hated laugh tracks too, even back when Monty Python was new (and I was young); particularly LOUD laugh tracks. Monty Python doesn't seem to be a particular offender here. But if it's funny it doesn't need a laugh track; there isn't any laugh track to my stupid slashdot comments but I regularly hav

Under the original terms of US copyright law (14 years with optional 14 year renewal if author is still alive, and zero copyright protection for foreign works), most monty python material would already be in the public domain in the USA.